Minutes to Midnight
by lostsword
Summary: AU. Zim is a successful Invader, Gaz is a sixteen year old Game addict, Dib is an unknowing...he's just Dib. What happens if Gaz was the first to meet Zim and what would happen if Zim was about to fall victim to politics gone bad? ZaGr DaTr FTW!
1. Chapter 1: Prolouge

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INVADER ZIM**

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 1: Prologue

Thousands of stars, millions even, were scattered across each individual galaxy, and thousands of galaxies were scattered across the universe. The universe they controlled.

Standing before the huge view screen on the bridge of the _Massive_, Tallest Red turned away from the spectacular view of the stars to find one of his senior lieutenant officers standing before him, though at a respectable distance due to Red's rank.

"Sir" The Irken soldier said as he straightened. "He is here" The officer said crisply.

"Send him in" Red said, almost sounding bored as Purple turned around as well and tossed his snack bag into a nearby incinerator.

Seconds later and the large, imposing purple doors that led to the rest of the ship slid open with an almost silent hiss. Walking into the command bridge of the largest, most powerful ship in the galaxy with a quick, yet long stride, Invader Zim came to a perfect attention with a click of his booted heels before the two tallest, most powerful beings in the Irken Military and the universe at large. Behind him, his SIR stood at an equally perfect attention with it's glaring red eyes staring straight ahead.

"Invader Zim reporting as requested my Tallest!" Zim barked as he saluted. Red casually returned it and watched as the Invader dropped his arm after him, returning to attention once more. Red looked at him for a moment, looking almost enviously at the rank upon rank of medals and awards that hung on his bright pink and red uniform, freshly pressed as his medals shined brightly. Despite his insanely high rank, Red did not, nor would he most likely ever, possess the large amounts of metal that only a soldier could earn. Yet Zim still answered to him. For now.

Zim was the best of his soldiers. Perfectly loyal, a natural fighter, an ingenious mind and to top it all off, Zim was _tall_. He wasn't yet the same height as Red or Purple, but he was very close, only an inch or two. That was what scared Red. Zim was a better Irken then him, much more intelligent, even though Red was just more intelligent then he let on, and Zim would soon be taller then either of them.

While he had once served with Zim, even looking up to him secretly, Red was now the superior and he did not wish to lose his rank and power, which he was loath to give up to Zim now.

"Invader" Red and Purple both said at the same time. "You have been called here to undertake an assignment of the utmost importance" Red continued by himself as Purple fell silent. "You will go to a new galaxy we have recently discovered with Irk's new satellites. It is far beyond our own borders, more towards unknown space really, but we want you to take a ship and investigate this system. If you wish, conquer any habitable planets in the area and then report back" Red finished.

Zim nodded and saluted properly. "As you command my Tallest!" He said with a fever, ready to prove himself to his leaders once again by being the very best Invader in the entire military.

* * *

><p>"You did make sure the proper measures were taken into effect?" Red said to his companion. Purple, though no one other then several late medical officers and the Tallest themselves knew this, was slightly shorter then Red. The co-ruler of the empire had only remained in power for two reasons, one he was for most intents and purposes Red's brother. The other reason was that Red, to maintain his power and status, commonly, almost casually, used said brother as a scapegoat. Purple had been his excuse for when things went bad, while using himself as the reason things went good. Because of this, Purple was allowed to remain a Tallest, though it was more for ceremony then use. He never got a say in anything, never decided anything and most of all, really never did anything.<p>

Today was an exception.

"Yeah" Purple said as he drank a green colored drink. "Everything was set before his ship left, the crew that did it should be lining up before the execution squad right now for 'Betraying the Empire' and 'Murdering it's best officer'" Purple said with an almost cruel chuckle. "Those morons never knew what hit them..." Purple added, then remembered his final order. "Oh and our agent should be leaving right now to make sure it all goes to plan."

Red simply nodded and turned to face the stars again, watching as one lone Voot Cruiser shot off at full speed for some random spec of space. "Good."

* * *

><p>Zim's ship, after months and months of travel, finally arrived at the unknown solar system that the Tallest had sent him to. He had been in the system for less then five standard seconds before a loud explosion went off and red lights began flashing all over the controls as alarms blared.<p>

"Computer!" He shouted. "What is the meaning of this!" He began to work frantically at the controls of his ship, trying desperately to stop his crash course towards a blue and green covered world. He was momentary lost in the beauty of it's mist covered surface before a trajectory warning went off, indicating he was about to hit atmosphere.

"Brace for impact" The monotone voice of his computer said. "Impact in ten...nine...eight...seven..."


	2. Chapter 2: Falling Star in the Moonlight

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 2: Falling Star in the Moonlight

_There's a place in my mind_

_No one knows where it hides_

_And my fantasy is flying_

_It's a castle in the sky _

Gazlene Membrane scowled as she tried to, yet failed for the hundredth time, beat level 108's final boss on her Gamelsave IV.

Most would complain about her love of video games, her dark clothing, odd hairstyle and just all around behavior problems at school. But after sixteen and a half years of putting up with it, Gaz really didn't care. So her hair was now down to her shoulders, her shirts a little more snug in the front and her admirers a bit larger in number then a few years before, she was still the same dangerous little foul tempered girl of Professor Membrane.

"You stupid game!" She spat and tossed the device onto the ground in her fit of anger. Taking a calming breath, she reached down and pulled up the device, which still taunted her with the large 'GAME OVER' letters on the screen. As she did this, a loud roaring could be heard and then a car sized flaming object flew over her head before crashing into the ground, sending dirt and debris flying everywhere.

Deciding that this would be more interesting then going home to her brother, Gaz approached the flaming remains of what had Gaz supposed had once been a meteor from space. To her surprise, however, the remains looked more like a ship or some sort of odd pod like thing. Before she could inspect it further, a creature fell out of one of the parts of the ship that wasn't aflame. Crashing to the ground in a small shower of glass, the creature looked up at her with stereotypically bright red eyes set upon equally stereotypical green skin. It was clothed in a dull pink and red uniform covered in medals, however the cloth of the uniform was slightly singed and the medals slightly dented.

"AHHH!" The creature roared in surprise. "GIR! ATTACK MODE TWELVE!" It roared. Suddenly a metallic object shot out of the flaming ruins of the ship and flew right at her. Dropping the game slave in her surprise, Gaz let her eyebrow go up slightly before cocking her arm back, squeezing her hand into a fist.

The object appeared to be a robot with bright red eyes and a smooth metallic body. Several odd looking weapons popped out of it's head and arms as it closed in on the purple haired youth, however just as it was close enough to actually hit her, the girl threw her fist forward, which impacted in the robot's oddly shaped head.

With a shower of sparks, the metal of the head bent inwards and almost all of the weapons either broke into pieces or simply fell off the damaged compartment that had once been the SIR's head.

Zim watched Gir, his most valuable asset and most dangerous weapon, which had made numerous worlds cower in fear of just the robot itself, fly backwards through the air and through several trees.

"Impossible!" Zim cried. His bot's head piece was made from the strongest Irken alloy, able to take laser fire from the most powerful of the univere's blaster technology. This mere alien had dented it with the same casual interest that the Almighty Tallest gave out orders.

Gaz, on the other hand, merely cocked her head to the side as she watched the odd green alien run at her. Sighing, she moved to the right, tripping the alien as it charged her. As it fell, Gaz swung her other fist up, soundly impacting the thing's chin as it flew backwards onto it's back. Stepping closer, she kicked it in the side several times to make sure it stayed down.

"Agh! I am Zim! Conquour of worlds and destroyer of species!" It cried out, pain lacing it's words. "I demand you to stop!" Gaz did stop, only to move out of the way as one of the tree's the robot had gone through fell on him. "AHHH!" It shouted even louder as the oppressing tree landed on it.

"Whatever" Gaz said, now bored. Calmly, she ignored the flaming spaceship, which she assumed it _was_ a spaceship because the thing before her _was_ an alien, and it's odd passengers as she turned on her heel. Picking up her game, she hit 'REPLAY' and began level 108 as she continued on her way home, glad to see that the incident had taken up ten or so minutes she could have been stuck talking to _Dib_. Shuddering, the girl shut off the outside world as she immersed herself into the game.

* * *

><p>Zim looked at the badly camouflaged house. It wasn't the strangest thing he had seen on this planet so far, but it wasn't the best either. Oh well, it would have to do. Stepping inside, he frowned at the odd design of the interior, including the disturbing picture of the yellow furry mammal on the wall. He supposed it had something to do with his ship's wiring being so badly damaged from the crash. Walking into one of the rooms, he watched as a part of the house moved upwards, allowing him entrance into his hidden lab.<p>

Once the elevator opened, he walked across the narrow walkway to the massive computer set up before a small chair. Nearby, a small metal table held the still deactivated remains of Gir, who had a noticeable dent in his beat up body, which had gone through a number of towering structures that Zim figured were a type of flora for the planet. What really worried him was the one working eye that had refused to turn off, and the disturbing part was instead of being the standard red color, it was an alarming electric blue.

Turning on the computer, Zim immediately got down to business. "How in the world did the ship crash land?" He demanded.

"I am not sure, the fact that it had enough power and working parts after the crash to build this place is amazing enough" The computer said, ever monotone. "I did gather that something seemed odd when the technicians switched me back on after maintenance...perhaps a technician made a mistake?" The computer suggested.

"Nonsense!" Zim snorted. "Irken Technicians are the best in the universe, complete masters of technology, it is more likely that you did something wrong in the trajectory calculations" Zim said, ignoring the computer's own electronic snort. "Whatever the case, patch me through to the Tallest" He ordered.

"Very well sir..." The computer said. A beeping sound then came over the audio systems in the lab as the Irken symbol appeared. After a few minutes the computer found something interesting. "Sir, it appears that I cannot contact the _Massive_. I will need to run a diagnostics check to make sure that everything is in proper order. With all the damage the ship sustained from the crash, it wouldn't surprise me if something went wrong" The computer reported.

Zim growled. "Great...now not only have you failed me, but now I cannot report in to my glorious leaders! Run your diagnostic check and report back to me as soon as it is done!" Zim barked before heading over to a small capsule in the corner of his lab. Looking at the device, he turned it on and waited until the screen showed him several disguises to be used for his mission. "Hmm" He hummed as he began to scroll through the options. "No...no...no...too flashy...not flashy enough...What in the name of irk?...no...no...agh!" Zim said, stopping at an outfit that consisted of a simple black wig and blue eye contacts. "What kind of fool put this in here?" He demanded. "Only an idiot would wear a meager disguise like that" He added before scrolling to the next selection. At first he grinned, then he chuckled and finally began to laugh in glorious victory. "Yes, this is perrrrrrffffeccct" Zim said dramatically as he hit the button and stepped into the machine.

* * *

><p>"Gaz where have you been!" Dib cried in terror as he looked at his sister, who had just came in to their home. In one hand she had her game slave which she was playing one handed, while in the other she had a slice of pizza she was munching on as she played.<p>

"Bloaties" Gaz said with a grunt as a particularly sneaking vampire pig tried to get at her, however her blade sliced through the pig, drenching the screen momentarily in blood as the pig squealed in anguish.

"School ended _hours_ ago!" Dib cried as his sister ascended the stairs. "You weren't there the whole time were you!" He demanded as he followed his sister. Gaz, already aggravated by failing level 108 _again_, decided to shut her brother up in the way of punching him in the face. Dib, bloody lip and all, came crashing down the stairs where he smashed into a table, almost knocking over a rather expensive and delicate vase, which only wobbled a ton instead.

Walking into her room, she tossed the game onto her bed and dropped her backpack by her desk. To her surprise however, she saw Dib had managed to crawl back up the stairs. "As your older brother it is my job to know w-" He started to say, only for her door to slam in his face abruptly.

Gaz listened with glee as a number of loud thumps occurred outside her door before the sounds of a vase crashing into the floor below followed. Grinning she walked towards her computer, ready to watch the new Vampire Piggies trailer.


	3. Chapter 3: That New Kid

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 3: That New Kid

Gaz groaned as she walked down the stairs into the kitchen at seven in the morning. She was **not** a morning person. And to get up before noon was beyond her. She cursed school, then after some thought cursed the human race as well for deciding that educational learning should occur before the sun was even fully up. It was sort of ironic considering her father had made those changes in the 'Name of Science.'

"Good morning daughter!" Professor Membrane said cheerfully. Gaz mumbled her own greeting as she prepared a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

"Good morning son!" Professor Membrane said just as cheerfully. There was no response. "Good morning son! Good morning son! Good morning son!" Professor Membrane said cheerfully.

"DIB!" Gaz shouted, getting quickly annoyed by the infernal repetition of the machine floating before the table. "GET DOWN HERE! DAD NEEDS YOUR AUDIO CONFIRMATION!"

Dib, moments later, half dressed and hair a mess, flew down the stairs. "Morning Dad!" He shouted as he fearfully glanced at Gaz, expecting another punch after seeing her angry expression.

"Have a good day at school kids!" Membrane said and then the screen shut off as the recording ended. The floating screen then slid into a slot in the wall. Dib, seeing that Gaz wasn't going to hurt him, ran back up the stairs to finish getting ready for school. Minutes later and he appeared slightly more dressed and quickly grabbed his own morning nutrition filled breakfast of the entirely unhealthy cereal that was stocked in their house.

As soon as he was done, Dib got his keys and the two Membrane children were off to school.

* * *

><p>"Good morning class" Mr. Stevens said as his students began to trickle into the classroom. They were all bleary eyed and half asleep as it was, but with an hours worth of educational facts shoved into their lives, he was sure they would be awake and ready for their next class.<p>

Gaz, personally, wanted to find the man responsible for the idea of education and throw him into the darkest, deepest nightmare she could find.

"Today we have a new student that will be joining us!" Mr. Stevens said enthusiastically. "Coming all the way from Yekatrinburg, Russia is Sohzu Tajiki" The teacher said and welcomed in an averagely tall teen with slicked black hair, piercing electric blue eyes, and slightly pale skin. He was wearing a simple red hoodie over a faint pink muscle shirt with red skinny jeans and faint pink converse 'Chucks' completing the very weird outfit. Glancing around the room, the boy saw Gaz and his eyes widened and he trembled faintly. It was so faint that Gaz doubted he noticed and knew had she not been staring at him she would have never noticed it. Normally, she wouldn't have cared because people, especially guys, did that all the time. But for some reason she felt this was different, it wasn't so much that he was scared as he _recognized_ her, but how could he if he had never seen her before?

Shrugging it off, Gaz went back to her game as the teen, Sohzu, sat near the back of the class in one of the open chairs. Throughout the class, Gaz had the feeling of being watched, yet every time she glanced around, she didn't see anyone looking at her. It followed her throughout the day. The only recurring theme that she could find was that Sohzu was in all of her classes.

"Gaz?"

Snapping back to reality, Gaz realized she was sitting in her seat across from Dib at lunch. "What?" She snapped, having been edgy and moody all day.

"You ok?" Dib asked, noticing Gaz was not only _not_ playing her Game Slave, but she was also acting off, like she was too busy thinking about something. Gaz was never concerned about anything, much less anything to make her not think about playing her Gameslave.

"Fine _Dib_" She spat, then shoved his greasy tray full of equally greasy food into his face, which fell into his lap. Snarling, she left the cafeteria, heading for the outside eating area, which in the middle of winter wasn't very populated. Enraged even further that she could still feel someone watching her, Gaz spun around, only to see Sohzu sneaking up behind her.

"You!" She snapped and the boy froze, his blue eyes freezing in surprise at being caught. "What do you want?" She demanded as she advanced on the black haired teen.

"Uh..uh...uh" The boy stuttered as he backed up, only for something to beep on his wrist.

"Sir, the diagnostic check of the remains of the ship after the crash is complete. The ship's antenna-" A robotic voice said

Gaz's eyes widened as the boy slammed his fist down on his comlink. "Y-you?" She said in surprise. Normally she wouldn't be freaking out over an alien in her school, there were weirder things inside the building after all, but what the fact that he looked so human is what really shocked her.

The teen, no alien, moved with a quicker speed then she would have guessed and knocked her onto the ground, pinning her as he drew a blaster. "Computer you fool! Now this pathetic creature knows of my disguise!" The alien roared into it's wrist comlink, which looked a lot like a pink rolex watch, though a watch nonetheless. Sighing, the alien began to bring it's blaster to bear on Gaz. "It does not matter though, this weakling won't be telling anyone anything" He said, his mistake. Gaz's eyes began slits as she snarled.

No. One. Called. Her. Weak.

Snapping her arm up, Gaz broke the aliens almost pitiful grip and decked him in a perfect, dare she say beautiful punch. Flying upwards, then downwards, the alien landed painfully on one of the metal tables that had been placed outside for students that wanted to eat during the warmer summer periods of school.

"I don't know who or what you are" Gaz said as the alien's disguise vanished, most likely it had been a hologram, and he was the same odd looking green creature she had seen the other night. "But I am going to send you to a world of true evil and fear the likes of which you have never seen before" Gaz said as she approached 'Sohzu.'

* * *

><p>"Gah! Computer I do not understand it!" Zim complained as he walked into the lab. His digital hologram was badly damaged and he was flickering between the actual image and his natural appearance. The real Zim wasn't much better off. His uniform was torn, bloodied and scratched. His body was also cut up and bruised. "Everything went fine today until that cursed creature discovered me! Because of <em>you<em> I might add!" He snapped.

"If _you_ had listened to me, you might not have gone into the human's city half blind" The computer snapped. "I tried to tell you they are a viscous race that are easily angered."

Zim stared at the Computer's screen for several moments in shock. "D-did you just...snap at me?" He said, utterly stunned. The Computer had been with him, just like Gir, his entire career. It had been on hundreds of planets and never done such a thing. It had been monotone and borderline insubordinate, but never had it actually done anything insubordinate. "ME? THE ALMIGHTY ZIM!" He roared and raised his fists to destroy the computer in a righteous rage of destruction, only to pause as his anger vanished. "Did you say 'Hew-main'?" He said, finding the pronunciation a bit odd.

"No, it's 'Hew-mon'" The Computer corrected him. "I already complied data for you to download to your PAK, but you were so exited to infiltrate the Human's learning facilities that you would not plug in your PAK before you left earlier today" The computer said.

Zim stared at the computer. He blinked once, then twice, then a third time slowly. Then he slammed his head into the console panel of the computer. Silently, he moved to a slot in the computer's console panel and connected his PAK to it, allowing the data to be transferred in. Moving over to Gir's table, he began to work on the almost repaired robot as the Computer chose wisely not to comment.

* * *

><p>Gaz noticed Dib looking at her as they drove back home, school now over. "G-Gaz?" Dib asked.<p>

"What Dib?" Gaz snapped, not in the mood for him right now. What was it with that freaky alien that caused her to become angry so easily? She was normally a pain in general, but to be so snappy to Dib all the time was sure to raise his 'Big brother' concerns, which would cause him to ask her questions nonstop. Something she wished to avoid, but it was obvious it was going to happen now anyways.

"Are you ok?" Dib asked for the second time in less then twenty four hours, a major no-no. "You're mad all the time and keep looking around like someone is following you" Dib added, looking just as worried as he sounded. "Is some guy trying to hurt you?" He asked.

Gaz rolled her eyes. Figures that if she was 'In trouble' it had to be a boy, and of course said boy had to be trying to hurt her. What was it with older brothers? Couldn't it be a older girl trying to hurt her? Or a teach giving her bad grades or something? Of course Dib was pretty close to the truth, though she wasn't sure if Zim was a guy or not. Wait? Did she just call him Zim? Oh this wasn't good.

"I'm fine Dib" Gaz grumbled. She needed to get all of this out of her mind. Pulling out her Game Slave, Gaz began to work once again on level 108, hoping to beat the infernal level at long last.

"Gaz?" The voice was like a cannon shot and she died almost instantly. Scowling deeply at her screen, Gaz turned to her brother.

"If you say one. More. _Word_. I. Will. Destroy. You." She promised in a far to calm whisper. She then returned to her game and Dib wisely decided not to say anything else to his sister for the rest of the ride home, or for that matter, the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4: Strange Friendship

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 4: Strange Friendship

"Gaz" Zim said casually as he opened the door to his oddly designed home. The purple haired goth walked inside, long since used to the home and it's few occupants.

"Zim" Gaz said in way of reply as she sat down on the couch in his main room. The alien was halfway through setting up the T.V. In the room when Gir flew through the kitchen doorway.

"SCARY LADY!" He cried delightfully and hugged the girl with delight. "IZ LOVE YOU!" Gir shouted far to loudly in her ear. She hit him, though much lighter then her first time meeting him, across the room. "IMMA GONNA GO MAKE WAFFLEZ!" Gir screamed as he picked himself off the floor. He then made a quick dash into the kitchen, where he was to make said waffles.

"One day" Zim muttered as he handed his companion a pink controller. "One day I swear I'll fix him."

"He's kinda funny the way he is though" Gaz said as the T.V. flashed on, the words 'VAMPIRE PIGGY COMBATANTS' flashing across the screen momentarily before the starting menu appeared. Zim selected the online portion of the game and 'TEAM COMBAT' flashed before a loading bar began.

Zim looked at her as he did this. "Really?" He said, deadpan. "You really think that?"

Looking right back at the red eyed alien, Gaz smirked. "If only to annoy you more, then yes, I like him the way he is" She said, enjoying the scowl that quickly appeared on Zim's face.

"Foolish _human_" He said, pronouncing human as 'Hew-main' despite the fact that he could say it perfectly fine. Zim would often do it to annoy her, or anybody really, but especially her.

Meanwhile, the game had loaded and the splitscreen gameplay barely hindered either human or Irken as they immediately got down to business of fighting off the other players, slaying them quickly as Gaz slew them with her laser sword and Zim destroyed them with his energy rifle. The round ended soon after, showing the after game stats, of which Zim and Gaz were at the top. Like normal, they were given the most points for being the best 'Team', which was really a joke considering that one was a game addict and the other an alien who had more advanced toys then some countries weapon systems. Both could easily cream eight year-olds who were still sucking at Gray Ops: Days of War II.

As they began another round, Gaz thought back on the past few weeks. It was sort of odd really. She had gone from beating the crap out of Zim for stalking her daily to hanging out with him for most of the day. It had all started really simple to be honest.

"_AHHH!"_

_Gaz stared as 'Sohzu Tijiki' ran across the school campus like mad, trying to find shelter from the light rain that was trickling down slowly from the heavens. Dib and her had just had a fight over her recent detention, which she had got because of being caught beating up Zim after he had tried to trap her with some sort of odd cage. The result was one generous being historically put in a trash can upside down and one very angry goth girl storming outside into the rain as the rest of the school began to leave after final bell. Seeing Zim running around in pain caused some odd feeling in her stomach. She didn't like it. She usually enjoyed beating up the alien and seeing him in pain each day during their 'fights' if you could call them that. But for some reason she found it gut wrenching this time. Sighing, she walked over to the literally **steaming** alien in his slightly malfunctioning disguise and dragged him under her umbrella. The alien's eyes widened in shock at being so close to the girl that habitually left him in a bloody mess each day and tried to back away, only to find her grip on his 'jacket' was as ice cold as the rain around them. They remained silent after that all the way to his house._

"_I'm the only one that gets to hurt you" Gaz said simply when he looked at her for an answer as to why she had just saved his life. Zim simply nodded his thanks and then awkwardly offered for her to come inside. She had accepted._

Gaz still wasn't quite sure to this day what had caused her to do it and why she had decided to go into his house. She wanted to say it was out of pity and the fact that if Zim died then she would be stuck with Dib all day. But she knew deep down it was because after that day she truly felt happy being around Zim. Whatever the case, she wouldn't have gone back and changed it if she could. They had immediately found out they were both technologically adept and began to tinker around his base, on his weapons, everything.

Neither of them asked why they were suddenly just having fun and wasting time instead of fighting, and neither really cared either. It was only a few days afterwards that they ran out of things to tinker with and started playing the online game, rapidly destroying the scoreboards and other teams as they became internationally ranked.

Zim, on the other hand, was having other thoughts on his mind besides his friendship with Gaz. True it was there, but not exactly at the very top. He enjoyed spending time with her, she was far more interesting then anyone else on this planet, but what really concerned him was his mission.

As they played their fourth round of the day, Zim let his thoughts wonder to when his computer had informed him of a rather interesting piece of information.

"_It seems" The computer said, it's voice still monotone despite it's ever growing lack of discipline since it had been accessing the 'Internet' of the planet Zim had landed on. "That the Tallest, or someone in a high position in communications, activated a blocking software on our communication signal to the **Massive**" The Computer reported._

_Zim sat thoughtfully in his chair. This was interesting. "Are you sure it wasn't just some Communication Officer?" Zim questioned. "I sincerely doubt that the Tallest would purposely block communication with me after sending me off on such an important mission" Zim said with a large amount of self worth in his voice. He was the best soldier in the Military, the finest Invader they had, their best technological expert. They wouldn't just toss him aside like that. No it had to be an error, or a virus, yes some sort of foul up. No need to worry. After all it took weeks to get things done on the Massive, it might just not be fixed yet and Purple and Red already knew about it, but were too lazy to do anything. That had to be it...right?_

Zim shook his head, the flashback almost getting him killed as he and Gaz preformed a rather dazzling combination attack, which ended with several other players being gruesomely finished off, their time in the online round now over.

"MASTA I MADE TAQUITOS!" Gir shouted as he ran in with a plate full of flaming acidic looking chicken shaped...things. The Computer thankfully sprayed the robot with a full can of flame retardant foam, putting out the dangerous contraption of food that Gir had made, and then used a mechanical claw attached to the roof to toss the robot back into the kitchen before sealing said kitchen off with an industrial sized steel doorway. Gir still made a rather thick dent in it when he ran full speed into the sealed entrance.

Zim stilled wondered about Gir, sometimes he wondered if he would ever be the same. Sometimes he wondered whether it was right or not that the robot basically worshiped Gaz, even though she was the one who had put him in his current state. Sometimes he wondered if it would have been better to just cut the wires back then instead of fixing them, then tossing the parts into the system's nearby sun.

Gaz sighed as they finished the game. She jumped up off the couch and stretched, popping several muscles as she turned to her alien friend. The word friend being very loosely applied, but he was the closest thing she had to a friend, so that was what she referred to him as. "Bloaties?" She asked and Zim merely nodded as he left instructions for the Computer to keep Gir contained. The two then left for the restaurant, Zim holding the door out for Gaz as he had learned in his studies of Earth culture to be something expected of Males, just like conquering was expected of males on Irk.

It was a rather odd occurrence when Zim had found he loved Bloaties almost as much as Gaz had. It had started with a simple hunger that Gaz had gotten for Bloaties while staying at his house one day. It was late and she didn't want to head home just yet, but both were bored and out of ideas of what to do that day. Gaz had gone to Bloaties and Zim had simply gone along out of curiosity. What he had found was that, unlike most of the other food on Earth, Zim could not only stomach the incredibly greasy substance, but enjoyed it too. It faintly reminded him of a particular Irken cuisine that he had enjoyed with as much fever during his time as a scientist for the Empire back on Irk.

The two entered Bloaties, Zim now in his disguise, to find it with it's average atmosphere. Stinky, cheesy and full of loud children, crazy teenagers and despairing adults. Sitting down in a very overused and outdated booth with leather cushions, they both ordered four boxes of various pizzas each. As a rule of thumb, both always got four different things that were not the same as the other's, that way they could get eight different pizzas to try and devour. After finishing off those boxes however, things rapidly piled up and soon they were finishing their twenty fourth box, combined that is, when Gaz suddenly scowled and grabbed Zim by the collar without warning and dragged him out of the building.

"Ga-Gaz? What's going on?" He asked in surprise, putting his hands on her shoulders to stop her from dragging him, only to see a dark haired boy whose hair was in a scythe like style appear nearby, an outraged expression on his face.

"Get your hands off my sister punk!" The boy yelled with righteous anger as he, in his own mind at least, heroically charged to his sister's rescue. Gaz however met the boy the same way that she had met Gir. A really brutal punch to an unsuspecting target. Yelping in pain, the boy crashed into a bush, a shocked expression on his face.

"G-Gaz?" He asked in surprise. "I-I...You-You" He stuttered, only to get another punch to the face.

"Were you seriously _following_ me?" Gaz shouted as she glared at the crumbled form of her brother. Everything had been going great. She had been having a fun time, eating as much pizza she could with Zim due to his limitless funds, after all he could just copy more money if he needed it. Then of course Dib had to just show up and ruin everything. Why was it when she found something to help her deal with her messed up life, Dib had to ruin it? "I am so going to trash you" She muttered and brought her fist up, only for Zim to grab it, restraining her punch and saving Dib from another bruise.

"Gaz!" He cried. "Beating the Earth-smellies while they are down is sure to attract attention!" He hissed, which caused Gaz to absent mindedness wonder why he always referred to her by her name, but every other human as a Earth or Pig smelly. Even though he had spoken quietly, Dib had still somehow heard him and his eyes squinted as he tried to get a good look at Zim.

"Did he just say Earth Smellies?" Dib asked, suspicion and confusion covering his face. Gaz sighed and grabbed a nerve on Dib's neck, causing him to black out. Zim, meanwhile, stared at her in shock.

"Did you just kill him?" He asked. While it wouldn't really bother him if a human died, it would draw attention to her, and him too. And attention was not something he wanted right now.

"No he's just unconscious" Gaz assured him. "Look thanks for the pizza, but I have to take him home before he wakes up" Gaz said, feeling slightly awkward thanking him for paying for the food. It made it sound like a date, and it was _not_ a date. At least she doubted he considered it a date. Shaking her head to rid those thoughts from her mind, Gaz waved goodbye before heading home with her unconscious brother being dragged by one of his arms unceremoniously across the ground.

Zim, meanwhile, realized that he had just met Gaz's brother. The same one who was always bothering her. Remembering his hair cut, attitude and suspicious glare that had been directed at him, Zim figured he could understand why. Turning around, he walked back towards his home, not noticing the intelligent, conning eyes staring at him from up in a tree nearby, having seen the entire incident from it's perch.

* * *

><p>"What?" Red yelled in anger as Purple cringed.<p>

"My Tallest" A voice said, utter respect and care in it's tone. "It appears the target is still alive. It also seems the target is interacting with the native population, and as far as I can determine, not attempting to conqueror the planet."

Red snarled, only to suddenly grin. "This might actually help us" He said to Purple, who uneasily grinned at his fellow co-leader. "We can now officially state Zim is a traitor because he isn't following our orders!" He said, looking pleased with himself. "You are cleared to terminate the subject" He said to his agent.

The figure on the other end of the communication saluted crisply. "As you command, my Tallest" The figure said, then the communication died.

"Is this a good idea?" Purple tentatively asked.

Red growled. "Did I ask for you to voice your opinion?" He demanded as he turned towards the slightly shorter leader.

"N-No" Purple said. "It's just t-that if Zim survives...he might find out and try to g-get revenge on us, you know?" He offered. Red thought about this, then nodded slightly.

"Good work Purple, you _are_ actually useful for somethings" Red said with slight distaste. "Officer! Get me Lieutenant Kove!"

* * *

><p>"Ugh...what happened?" Dib asked as he groaned. Slowly, he got out of his bed and stumbled downstairs. To his surprise, he found Gaz sitting on the couch, watching T.V. And eating cereal. "Gaz?" He asked. "What...what happened?"<p>

"You came home last night looking like you got hit by a truck or something" Gaz replied. "Said something about bigfoot I think" She said and Dib's mind clicked.

He had been hunting bigfoot, and almost caught him too! He had given up after the crafty creature had avoided him by hopping onto a passing by truck and was about to head back when he had spotted Gaz! She had been on a date with that weird new guy in school! He was momentarily blocked by rage that some punk would try and date his little sister, but then decided if Gaz realized he knew about last night, she would knock him out again.

"Oh...oh yeah...um ok...I'm just gonna...go...yeah go!" Dib said as he quickly left the room. Gaz watched him like a hawk the entire way.


	5. Chapter 5: Suspicions

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 5: Suspicions

He really shouldn't be doing this. He knew it was wrong. If she found out he was dead, he was beyond dead, she would slowly strip his soul from his body. He shouldn't be doing this.

Dib thought all of this as he followed his little sister, Gaz, after school. He had been doing this for a week or so after he had caught her with that weird Russian transfer student who had appeared near the end of the first semester. Said semester ended today and Gib had a feeling something was going down today, something he wouldn't like.

The biggest problem so far was that Gaz was in another entire grade, and as such she was never in any classes he had, so it was hard to keep an eye on her. The one thing he had noticed after he had hacked, ahem, _peaked_ into the school records was that the guy she was hanging out with , Sohzu Tijiki was in all her classes, which was beyond strange to the paranormal inspector. And seriously? What kind of name was Sohzu Tijiki? He was from Russia but his name was definitively not Russian. Something stunk about this guy and Dib didn't like it one bit.

Getting back on track, Dib continued to follow his sister. She had just left her final class and was heading towards the Cafeteria. That had been the biggest surprise to him, she no longer ate with him anymore. Usually the purple haired junior sat at his table, playing her game silently as he raved about his newest discovery or recent paranormal sighting. No longer. Now she sat with _him_ at another table outside, where he had seen her actually talking with him, her Game Slave abandoned. This unnerved him the most, Gaz NEVER ignored her game, never.

Watching Gaz sneak out the entrance to the outdoor eating area, Dib followed her after a few seconds, waiting to make sure she wasn't nearby. He then exited the building and followed her footprints in the light December snow, where he expected to see her...well he wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing in his head, but it _definitely_ wasn't _kissing_ that freaking transfer student.

With an angry roar of rage, Dib ran right at the slick black haired teen. The punk's eyes widened in surprise and Gaz herself was turning to see what was disturbing their moment, however Dib had already reached the punk. With a loud shout of "Get off my sister you freak!" Dib slammed his fist into the pale boy's face as he bull rushed him, tackling him hard into the snow that surrounded the eating area.

Immediately after this, several things happened in quick succession that would shock Dib horribly. The first thing to happen was the loud retort of a rifle of some sort going off, followed by a large beam of energy slamming into the school wall; exposing part of the Cafateria behind with it's odd tubs full of bubbling liquids. The next was 'Sohzu' shimmering before revealing a slightly battered green alien in a pink outfit glaring up at him with bright red eyes. The final thing was Gaz yelling "Dib!" At the same time as some other feminine voice nearby.

Glancing over to his left, Dib felt his mouth drop down in shock at the attacker who had nearly hit Sohzu, and by association, Dib with a large laser rifle in her hand. "W-What?" He shouted in surprise. What was going on in the world!

* * *

><p>Gaz sat in her final class of the day thinking about the past week. Things had, despite Dib constantly hounding her, gone rather well. She and Zim were still hanging out everyday, however she had realized rather recently she felt a bit stronger for the Invader then she wished, and it was pretty close to Dib's accusations. Alright it was <em>spot on<em>, but who cared? It had started with them simply having more deep conversations about Earth, it's life and everything going on with it like the wars and pollution and what not, as well as Zim's planet called Irk, it's conquering ways, his mission and other random things that happened to filter into their mind.

She realized she was probably the only person on Earth who could just habitually hold a civil conversation with an extraterrestrial being that was planning on conquering Earth and even offer advice on how to do so, and not freak out about it or have a heart attack.

But then her simple companionship with Zim had gotten a whole lot less simple.

"_Gaz?" Zim said one day as they walked back towards his base after school had let out for the day._

"_What?" Gaz asked as she took an earplug out of her ear, temporarily transferring Papercut by Linkin Park to her left ear._

"_Why did your stupid Earth-sibling try and attack us last night?" He asked and watched as Gaz looked at him for a moment with a calculating gaze. She was thinking about this for a moment._

"_He thought you were trying to...um how do I put this for you? Hmm, he thought we were...i guess the closest thing would be mating or something" She said saw his horrified expression. _

"_He thought that we would mate in PUBLIC?" Zim shouted in surprise, looking like he had just been told his parents were second cousins twice removed or something to that effect for an Irken._

_Gaz rolled her eyes. "No dummy, he thought we were...ugh stupid trans-species terminology" Gaz muttered. "Does your species know what courting is?" she asked._

"_Yes of course" Zim said with sudden understanding in his eyes. "He thought I was seeking to court you?" He asked._

_Gaz's eyes narrowed in anger. "What am I not worth courting?" She asked, not liking how he had said the last statement. She knew that neither of them even considered going out with the other, but she loved to argue with him, he was one of the few people, well he was really an alien but still one of the few beings that could actually hold an intelligent conversation. And he was the only one she cared to talk to on that very short list too._

_Zim's eyes widened and she almost swore that he had blushed, or at least his digital hologram had blushed, was it that advanced or was it just a trick of the light? "N-No!" Zim said, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "It's j-just that he thought I was trying to court you with the intent to harm you that I found laughable" He said and when she seemed to not look as angry with him as a moment before, he continued. "It's just that you would have crushed me easily if I were to try that on you, you don't need protection your perfectly capable to handle yourself. I just found it funny, I wasn't insisting you were not attractive" Zim said, his thoughts and mouth jumbling slightly as he stared into her light brown eyes._

"_Are you saying I'm attractive?" Gaz asked, her stomach doing an odd flip for some reason as she thought about that possibility. Sure other guys thought she was 'Hot' but did Zim? And why the heck did it matter to her that much anyways?_

"_I-I-" Zim began to say, only for a truck to come flying down the road nearby, hitting a puddle sending a tidal wave of water into the air. Gaz quickly moved in front of him, taking the majority of the water, which made her mad. However enough hit Zim to cause him to howl in pain as his hologram began to flicker, indicating it was about to shut off due to the damage from the water._

_Groaning, Gaz grabbed Zim and quickly dragged him to his house, knowing they had little time before his disguise failed and everyone would see him. In the midst of their rush, she completely forgot about her question and it's answer from Zim._

After that incident, they had still hung out, but Gaz always felt a bit more awkward around him, her stomach always flipping. Now the close quarters of his couch when they played games made her feel warm instead of when she had originally not even noticed. When Gir shouted 'Mistress' in joy upon seeing her, she blushed instead of growling in annoyance. She still hit him, but it was more out of embarrassment now then anger.

However she had finally decided that she did, though it made her feel sick to admit it, like Zim. And this was not reached because of the small note Zim had given her minutes before the final bell whatsoever. And she certainly wasn't going out to the back of the school behind the cafeteria to see him, no she just wanted to see if she had left her game slave there, which she could feel quite distinctly in her pocket.

Exiting the cafeteria, Gaz shook off the feeling of someone watching her and found Zim standing not to far from the doors near their table, his disguise still on. Walking up to him, she stared at him for several seconds before he finally spoke up.

"Gaz" He said as he fiddled with his holographic sleeve slightly. "It...um...I...you see..." He began, this time she could definitely tell he was blushing. "I...er..." He continued to stutter as Gaz finally groaned and walked up to him. Standing close enough she could smell his scent, which to her chagrin smelled like Nachos with mayo and butter, don't ask her how she knew what that _smelled_ like, Gaz slapped him full across the face. Smirking, she watched as he quickly collected himself.

"Better?" She asked looking at the basically same sized teen before her. He rubbed his neck slightly as he nodded.

"Much..."He agreed, though still he had trouble looking into her eyes for more then a few seconds. "G-Gaz...after a few days of contemplation...I have realized I...well I..." He sighed and just spat it out. "I wish to court with you" He said, almost so quickly Gaz missed it.

Her eyes widened and she watched him wince, expecting her to reject him no doubt. Chuckling, she simply grabbed his head and without a bit of hesitation kissed the invader, her mouth going through his hologram to his lips, which tasted like oranges and backwash, again, don't ask her how she knew.

Zim was frozen for a second, however he quickly regained his composure and kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her like she had done to him. They broke apart for a second to catch their breath.

"Ok" She said, over dramatically. "You can court me" She said, as if it was the most painful thing in the world, then she smirked and kissed his worried face again. They had barely gotten into it when she heard a pained yelp. Before she had even turned around she saw a fist slam into Zim's face, sending him flying into the snow as her brother tackled him.

Not even a second later and a laser bolt flew past her face, missing by centimeters as Zim's hologram died out and Dib freaked out. The next thing she knew she was running towards her brother. "DIB!" She roared in anger, already raging at the fact that he had ruined her perfect moment with Zim.

Dib turned, however he was looking at someone else. His eyes widened in surprise and shock. "YOU?" He cried out as Gaz turned to look, only to quirk her eyebrow upwards at the sight of the girl holding the rifle in her hands.

* * *

><p>He was almost certain that his squeedly-spooch was stuck in some sort of endless cycle of flips as he continuously glanced at the far to slow clock bolted into the classroom wall. It was the final class of the day before the beginning of Winter Break, which was roughly the entire month of December. This was it. Do or die time, now or never.<p>

Gulping as the clock reached the last few seconds of time before the final bell, Zim whistled casually and slid a pre-prepared note onto the desk next to his. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Gaz glanced at it curiously before pocketing the note just as casually as it had arrived.

The bell rang.

Zim, with great amounts of effort, managed to walk calmly out of the classroom and headed towards the cafeteria. As he walked, he thought about all that had gone over the past week. He had learned more about the planet, it's ways, and had gradually begun to develop a plan to conquer the planet. However this plan rapidly began to include Gaz more and more. She had started out as his primary rival, only for he, an Irken Invader no less, to suddenly develop feelings that he shouldn't rightly own.

Irkens were bred to never feel anything but hatred. They were designed to only fight. They were crafted to be the best species by defeating all the others and do so with no emotion whatsoever. Yet he was somehow able to grow a soft spot for the purple haired vixen that he was rapidly finding to be a hindrance to his mission.

He had, he would admit, become her 'Friend' out of a simple need for companionship and that Gaz, as he argued to himself, was a good source of information. But instead of breaking off his connection with her when it got too deep, he was now trying to concrete his connection with the human.

It had all been because of that stupid incident when she had informed him that her brother thought he was trying to court her. Ever since that revelation, he had thought about the unspoken answer constantly, changing his answer back and forth and making alterations to it, re-considering it for hours and days as Gaz became the major focus in his mind. Computer had even mentioned he had seemed to be showing a distinct lack of focus.

Sighing, Zim exited the cafeteria to the back of the school, waiting for Gaz to appear, if she ever would. He had decided today to seek her out, as more then just a friend or even at best an ally. He just wasn't sure if he would be able to pull enough of his mind matter together to speak coherently.

It seemed like hours, but it was really only a few minutes, later when Gaz exited the school and walked up to him, staring at him with a slight mixture of curiously and confusion in her eyes, no doubt wondering what was going on. He was almost lost staring at her and her half open eyes.

"Gaz" Zim said, surprised at how clear his voice had come out. Of course as soon as he realized this, his entire short speech was ruined. "It...um..i...you see..." He said, trying to form coherent words as he messed with his short sleeve. He saw a faint light in her eyes showing she was amused and he realized his holographic disguise was showing his faint blush that would be harder to see on his Irken skin, but this cursed human skin made his embarrassment so much easier to see. "I...er..." He tried again, only for Gaz to groan in what he assumed was annoyance. He was half scared she was just going to walk away, only for her to walk _closer_ to him. Then she smacked him solidly, leaving his head ringing as he collected himself.

"Better?" She asked him with a faint smirk. Zim nodded.

"Much" He said, agreeing with her. Glancing at her eyes, he quickly averted his eyes so as to keep from losing his speaking functions once again. Sighing, he continued while he could. "G-Gaz...after a few days of contemplation...I have realized I...well I..." He paused, not sure if he should say it, then simply threw it out there and said it. "I wish to court with you!" He all but shot out, his mouth saying the words faster then his mind could think them.

Gaz's eyes grew wide and he flinched, waiting for the rejection or anger he was sure to ignite within her. He had known it was a bad idea...

Zim was rudely shocked out of his fear by Gaz grabbing his head and pulling him into a brutal kiss that left his mind completely blank. All he could feel was her warmth so close to him and all he could smell was her sent of blue berries, faint but it was there. He didn't care to ask her why she smelled that way, he only decided that he loved blue berries from now on.

Returning the kiss with fever, Zim wrapped his arms around her and felt his squeedly-spooch explode with a wonderful feeling as he kissed her. They broke apart after several moments so they could breath and while this happened, Gaz spoke to him.

"Ok" She said rather dramatically. "You can court me" She said with a pain filled nod, looking all the world as if she had just agreed to drink the foul earth stink water that covered the planet. Then she smirked and began to kiss him again, showing her statement to have been a simple joke to annoy him. He wasn't going to complain though if this was the outcome of any joke she played on him.

"Get your hands off my sister you freak!" Someone shouted with a loud rage filled roar. Zim's eyes shot open and he only had enough time to see Gaz's furious brother staring at them, actually he was running, before he felt pain explode in his face as he was punch-tackled to the by the scythe haired boy. Moments later and Gaz shouted her brother's name as a laser bolt missed him by mere millimeters. The boy froze in shock as his hologram broke, allowing him to see Zim in his full Irken uniform as he glared up at him.

"Dib!" A feminine voice said in surprise and Zim's head snapped to where the voice had come from, he recognized that voice! It was a long time ago, but faintly...

"TAK?" The boy, Dib, cried out in surprise.

"What are you doing h-" The girl started to say, only to stare in shock at both Dib and Gaz. "Oh..." She said, staring in shock at the trio, two laying in the snow and one standing nearby, looking at the blue haired teen holding her rifle.

Zim was frozen with shock. She was obviously in disguise, as his implants inside his eyelids allowed him to see through the hologram. But that wasn't what shocked him. Why was Tak here? Of all places? "Tak?" Zim said in surprise, but the girl wasn't listening.

"No...no...no this isn't happening" She said, looking startled, then her calculating eyes began to move quickly as she came to some sort of conclusion. However before she could do anything, Zim reacted. He drew a blaster from his PAK and fired it, nailing the female in her shoulder, sending her into a crumpled pile on the snow covered floor as her hologram failed, showing her true Irken self.

"TAK!" Dib cried out, running towards her, however he was thrown backwards by an unseen attack. Looking up, he found MiMi, her normally passive, if creepy, cat hissing at him. The creature shimmered and then revealed itself to be a sleek metal SIR bot. Dib was about to faint by now, first he found out his sister's boyfriend was an alien, then he found out _his_ girlfriend and even her freaking cat were also aliens! Was the world out to get him?

"W-we'll finish this later...Z-Zim" Tak said as she winced, that blaster shot had been powerful, not to mention pretty accurate too for a pot shot. MiMi helped her up, then the two vanished in a cloud of snow and smoke as MiMi blasted off into the air. Seconds later and a handful of sirens could be heard as the local authorities came to see what was going on in the normally quiet, but weird high school.

"We better go" Gaz said and Zim nodded. Dib was about to speak up, only for Gaz to knock him out with a quick jab to the temple.

"Will that really help us get out of here?" Zim said, knowing Gaz was going to make him carry the infernal human male with them.

"No" Gaz said. "But it made me feel better."

* * *

><p>"Ugh...what happened?" Dib asked as he came around. Gaz rolled her eyes and allowed Zim to hold her a little tighter, obviously still worried the boy was going to try and hurt her for some reason. As if, she could squish Dib like a bug if she so chose, but she <em>did<em> enjoy his affections towards her when he was worried, so she decided to just ignore the matter for now.

"You woke up idiot" Gaz said and saw the anger in Dib's eyes. He was furious with her, but the anger was directed more at Zim and the tight hold he had over Gaz.

"You!" Dib shouted and jumped off of Zim's couch, ready to beat the alien to bits. "Get off of my-" He let out a yelp as Gaz grabbed his throat, twisting it painfully in her grasp until he stopped struggling.

"Ground rules" Gaz said. "We do the questioning, you do the answering" Dib nodded as best he could given the circumstances. "You leave Zim alone" Another nod. "Try anything and I break you into bits" She hissed, then released him from her hold. Dib crashed back down into the couch as Zim eyed him warily, his arms still protectively around Gaz.

"First thing" Gaz said. "Who in the world was that" She said. "I know you know. And for that matter I know you do too" She said to Dib first, then glanced up at Zim as well.

"She's my...uh...friend from school who happens to be a girl that happens to...uh...hang out with me" Dib said lamely.

"She is another Invader in the Irken military that apparently was sent to kill either myself or the Dib-stink. But judging by the fact that she has had a decent amount of time to kill him, it was most likely me" Zim said, his eyes looking both furious and hurt. "They did try to kill me..." He muttered darkly as Gaz squeezed his hand lightly.

"Whoa, back up!" Dib shouted. "Irken military! Invader? Kill me? What's going on here?" Dib demanded, then his jaw dropped and he looked at Zim with utter horror. "You an alien sent here to conquer Earth!" He shouted and made a move to hit him again, only for Zim throw him back onto the couch with a metal appendage that came out of a metal pod on his back.

Gaz growled. "I'm the only one that gets to hurt him" She said, her warning to Zim obvious. "Dib, your asking questions..." She said, now a threat being sent to her brother and her tone did not sound warm to his ears. Gulping, he shut up for now. "You were saying?" She said to Zim.

"My leaders" He said grimly. "They sent me to do reconnaissance in this system, but apparently they wanted to kill me. They were the reason my ship crashed and I am guessing they sent Tak after me as well to finish the job. I would have wondered what took her so long to finally come around to it..."Zim said and glanced at Dib with a slight loathing. "But I think I found out why..."He finished.

"Gaz how could you help this alien!" Dib piped up. "And how could you kiss him! He's the enemy!" He was immediately treated to duel glares with growls to match. Neither were in the mood for this obviously.

"Who I date and what I do are not your concern, what is your concern is that you almost got us killed!" Gaz snapped. "You brought some chick you didn't even know to hurt Zim! Seriously?"

Dib shook his head. "I didn't even know she was an alien! And she came on her own, I was just following you!" He cried in his defense.

"You were following me!" She cried in anger.

"SHUT UP!" Zim roared. "We can argue about this later" He said and stepped away from Gaz, though with great reluctance. "We must work together to stop Tak...for now" He said and Dib scowled, but still shook the offered hand.

"Fine. But then we're having a talk about all of this" Dib said, looking straight at Gaz, who glared right back.

* * *

><p>This wasn't supposed to happen.<p>

Groaning, Tak pulled herself into her computer chair as MiMi went to a nearby charging station in her lab. Situated under a large building, the human's called them Mansions, Tak had established herself as the long lost smeet of some rich native on the planet, though instead of smeet he used the Earth-stink tradition of calling her his daughter. It didn't matter to her really, just as long as it helped her cover story.

As she waited for the connection to patch through, she thought about her attempt to kill Zim. It hadn't gone as well as expected. She had known that purple brat was his mate and even relished the though of killing her first, to make him suffer for everything he had done, before ending his life as well. However now she wasn't even sure if she could kill Zim.

Her target was the mate of the purple haired female. And the female was a smeetmate with Dib. And Dib held her heart. She hadn't intended it, she hadn't even mated with him or taken part in the odd Earthling tradition of touching mouths. But yet she knew he was her mate, she had realized it the first time she had met him. But she didn't know he was _related_ to the purple haired witch!

Now if she killed Zim, or even worse, the girl, she would horribly wound Dib, and that was something she couldn't do.

"Yes?" Tallest Red said as he appeared before her, the bridge of the _Massive_ behind him. "Oh it's you!" Red said pleasantly. Smiling he nodded to a technician off screen. "You are of course reporting on a successful mission I presume? Did that traitor die slowly or were you forced to give him a quick death?" He asked with glee.

"I...I didn't kill him" She said, getting straight to the point.

Red's smile vanished and his eyes went cold. "WHAT?" He roared. "HE'S ALIVE?"

Tak winced. She had forgotten how loud Red could get when he was angry. "I tried to kill him, but his human allies saved him and I was too wounded to finish him off" She said with forced regret. "I pr-"

"No!" Red shouted, anger in his face now. "Zim will know for sure now that we tried to kill him. We're coming straight there. Obviously we should have just blasted the planet to smithereens instead of just trying to quietly kill him...ugh Officer turn this ship around and set course for Sector 213D3C" Red snapped. He glared at Tak. "Your services are no longer required Tak, your Invader license application is revoked, denied, whatever! You failed so now we do things the Irken way. Burn everything to the ground and plant a flag on it!" Red roared, then shut the communication off.

Tak glanced fearfully at the computer screen. What had she just done?


	6. Chapter 6: An Uneasy Alliance

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 6: An Uneasy Alliance

"Any luck?" Gaz asked Zim as she sluggishly walked up behind him. Because of the very likely scenario of Tak attacking her or Dib either on their way home or at their home itself, Zim had made the Membrane children phone their father, arrange with him that they were going to be at a friends for a few nights, then they had barricaded themselves in Zim's lab. Dib had originally gone mad trying to mess with and document everything he saw, but Gaz quickly put an end to this idea rather quickly. It had only been a single day, yet Zim had been unable to track down Tak.

"Unfortunately your earth satellites have not located Tak's PAK yet, but eventually I should be able to-" Zim started to say, only for the screen to explode with static, then flash to a clear image of Tak's face. "TAK!" Zim roared as Gaz studied the feminine Irken. She looked like Zim, but her purple eyes and slightly different facial structure showed she was a female.

"Zim" Tak said, looking like she had to say something she neither wanted to say, nor wanted to discuss. "I have a proposal for you, the _Massive_ is on it's way here and the Tallest are aboard. They plan to wipe Earth off the URM and unless we do something about it, you can kiss your mate's planet goodbye" She stated, making it very clear that the Tallest were not playing around this time, they were out for blood.

Zim's eyebrows rose in surprise. The idea that Red, he could believe Purple maybe, but that _Red_ would waste his personal time to come and kill him was a bit odd, but he had looked slightly off the last time he had seen him. Which was conveniently right before his ship blew up.

"To begin with Tak" Zim said, trying to keep calm about the fact that the women who had tried to kill him yesterday was now trying to work with him. "When did you start caring about this planet?" He asked accusingly.

Tak's eyes flashed, showing her annoyance. "The Tallest discharged me, just like they did you. I got to be too powerful for them I suppose" She said in a very matter of fact way. "But in truth, I do not care for this dirt world, but this is _Dib's_ home, so I will defend it."

Zim's eyes narrowed. "**You love the Dib-stink?**" Zim said, conversing through Irken for the moment.

"**As much as you love the Gaz-stink**" Tak replied evenly, her eyes just as narrowed as Zim's due to the 'stink' comment.

"**Then to protect our mates, we will have to work together...**" Zim said in finality, looking resigned and grim at the mere notion, much less the idea or action itself.

"If you two don't start speaking in English I'm going to bash the nearest of the two of you in the head" Gaz growled.

Zim smiled slightly at her anger and, out of Tak's viewing range, let his hand slip into hers, which she squeezed in rage rather painfully. Zim still kept a strait face though, "How do you propose we take on the _Massive_ and the Armada though? We only have your voot cruiser since mine was destroyed" Zim said, stating the obvious for the most part.

Tak grinned, "The Tallest are fools of fools" She said. "They are only bringing the _Massive_ because they think it is far to easy to crush only a single small world with no navy because of their flagships weapons, so they left the fleet behind" Tak said. "But don't worry, I have a plan..." She said with a gleam in her eyes. It was a warrior's gleam, a gleam of anticipation, a gleam that held the prospect of several Irkens wetting their pants very soon.

"HOLY COW IT'S TAK ZIM!" Dib shouted as he woke up from his spot on the floor nearby and all but roared at the top of his lungs upon seeing Tak on the console screen.

/

"What do you mean you don't know!" Red shouted at the helmsman, who looked both very scared and very confused.

"Sir we don't have this planet on our records, only the system. It could be any of them" The Irken officer said as he pointed at the long line of planets that were almost perfectly lined up before a small sun.

"Well then head for that one!" Red commanded, pointing at one with a large ring. "It's the biggest, it has to be the one these Hew-mains live on" Red added when Purple looked at him, practically asking if he was just picking one randomly, which he was.

"Sir! Communication beam sent from unknown ship in the area" A technician reported from his console.

"What?" Red said in surprise. "There aren't supposed to be any ships in this area and the Hew-mains do not have any...what gives?" He demanded and the screen to his right fizzled before showing Tak's face. "Tak?" He said in surprise, having figured she had fled in exile by now. What was she doing here?

"My Tallest, Invader Tak reporting" Tak said, confusing both Red and Purple.

"Tak..." Purple said, as if speaking to a child. "We removed you from your status as an In-" Purple yelped as Red shoved him out of the way.

"What do you want Tak?" Red demanded, knowing the female would have contacted them, much less revealed her location to them, if she didn't have something to say or demand.

"Well I want my job back of course" Tak said, her eyes flashing as she glared at the duel leaders of the Irken Empire. "And I brought a gift, more of a political bribe really" She said and the screen split in half, one half showed her face and the other showed Zim tied up in the back of her ship, struggling and shouting in a vain attempt to free himself.

Red felt himself smile almost as wide as the rings around the planet they were orbiting. "Invader Tak, permission granted, bring that traitor aboard" He said with glee.

/

"Ah Zim so nice to see you" Purple said snarkly as Zim was hauled in by two Irken soldiers, Tak in front of them.

"Shut up you" Red growled, then turned to face Zim, a triumphant smile on his face. "Zim did you really think you could best the might of the Armada? We had you at every turn, now you meet your end today" Red said dramatically. "But first, like any good Irken, I plan to gloat for a minute about how sad, pathetic and weak you are and how much of a fool I always thought you to be" He said, seeing genuine anger in the Irken's red eyes.

"Your words are identical to your personality" Zim said. "Smart, yet stupid and arrogant...suits you I suppose" Zim added with a snarky grin of his own. Red growled and glared at a chuckling Purple.

"Do you want to lose your post?" Red seethed, only for Zim to go on.

"You always say you are so smart, so powerful, but you always fail! You failed to crush the other worlds and make the Empire the strongest power in the galaxy, _I_ did that. You failed to stop those Resisty troops from conquering Vortia, _I_ did that" Zim said and to Red's immediate anger some of the bridge crew was watching with interest, some even faintly nodding in agreement. "You couldn't even successfully kill me with a bomb on my ship and an assassin on my trail" Zim seethed, fulling Red's anger, his fury. "You aren't even fit to lead the Empire, Red" Zim spat, wounding the leader's pride even more. If he could get him angry enough, he might try and fight him, which would mean the guards would let go for a seco-

Red snapped at that very second, before Zim even finished the thought. "ENOUGH!" He roared and drew a laser pistol. Everyone in the room felt their eyes go wide in surprise as Red brought the barrel towards Zim and fired. Tak tried to move Zim out of the way, but Red had been so quick, done it so unexpectedly, that Zim was already on the floor oozing thick splotches of blood from his chest before she had even gotten a full step towards him. The guards dropped Zim in shock as Red brought his blaster to bear on Tak.

"So your a traitor as well?" Red snarled, looking slightly crazy, like he had snapped or something, which was a possibility right now. "Then you'll meet the same fate" He said darkly and prepared to fire the pistol.

"Whoa buddy! Whoa!" Purple said as he stepped slightly in Red's way. "Think about this, executing Zim, ok, executing a promising officer for no reason on your bridge in front of an entire audience, not good" Purple said, trying to reason with his co-ruler.

Red looked surprised for a moment, then lowered his pistol. "Your right Purple...oh Irk what was I thinking!" Red shouted in despair, then with a dark grin he punched Purple in the stomach, sending the leader to his knees. "Oh that's right, I was thinking that _I_ am the leader of this Empire and will make _my_ decisions for _my_self, not others making decisions for me!" He shouted and smacked the other Tallest with his pistol's barrel. "And you know what Purp?" He said as he aimed the gun at Purple. "You always were a bit too short" Red said as a parting shot, then he fired the gun, hitting Purple dead center in the chest with the weapon, sending the former Tallest flying backwards onto the deck in shock.


	7. Chapter 7: Unlikely Saviors

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 7: Unlikely Saviors

Waiving the gun around, Red looked at the rest of the horrified crew with what Tak could only now realize was true craziness. Zim really had made Red snap with his taunting. "If anyone else wishes to question my rule, line right up and I will _personally_ deal with whatever concerns you happen to have" Red declared. Wisely no one stepped up to complain.

"Now" Red said. "We'll deal with _you_" He turned to face Tak and as his guards grabbed her, he prepared to shoot her as well. Just as he put his primary finger on the trigger, the entire ship shook as a massive explosion went off. Everyone on the bridge was thrown to their feet by the shaking and a second later a technician, barely hanging onto his seat, reported something.

"Sir something just went off inside the main snack compartment section sir! Compartment A3 is gone, we are banking towards that planet Sir and I don't know if the ship will pull out of the gravity well" The technician reported.

"This is the finest ship in the Armada and your telling me we can't pull out of a simple gravity well?" Red shouted from his spot laying on the ground.

"Sir we never thought they would hit the snack compartments! That's the only weakness to the ship!" The technician cried in fear as the alarms began to blare. Suddenly a dozen oddly shaped fighters flew past the viewscreen, firing and hitting part of the damaged warship. The ship rumbled as it began to drift towards the ring planet at a faster rate.

Before Red could react, the massive doors to the bridge exploded and Gaz came running in, firing a large Irken laser turret wildly. The bolts slammed everywhere, destroying equipment, blowing things up, demolishing wires and other things. The effect was that all the technicians began to run for their lives. Seeing that he was cornered, Red grabbed Tak and, aiming his blaster at her head, backed up slowly. "Back off human!" He snapped, saying the species name correctly, unlike Zim, for the first time.

Gaz eyed Zim's wounded form and Tak's shocked one quickly, then lowered her gun slightly as she realized that she couldn't kill the crazy Irken without killing her brother's crazy crush. Dib, who had just ran in, looked shocked before his expression became angry at the sight of Tak being held in such a state. "Let go of her!" He cried and ran forward, only for Red to fire a shot off, hitting the ground before Dib's feet.

"Back off or I'll kill her!" He cried and reached the center of the bridge. Then, glancing around, aimed the blaster and fired at a small control panel nearby, causing the floor to open beneath Red, sending him down a small tube before sealing over him, blocking the two humans from pursuing him.

"No!" Dib cried and ran to where Red and Tak had originally been. Crying out in rage, he smacked the floor, but the secret passage did not open for him and trying to the controls did not open it again. Apparently it was a one time deal.

"You!" Dib snapped as he moved closer to a wounded Purple while Gaz ran over to check on Zim. "Where does that tunnel go! Where!" He demanded.

"I-It takes them to t-the emergency tunnels below the bridge" Purple said weakly, still shocked that Red, his practical brother, had actually shot him in cold blood like that. The jerk would pay if he had anything to say about it! "I'll take you to his ship...just h-help me up" Purple said and Dib complied.

"Gaz, come on!" He said and the purple haired girl scowled before hefting Zim's unconscious body while leaving the turret behind.

* * *

><p>"You'll never get away with this" Tak barked as she was dragged by Red towards a Irken shuttle being guarded by Imperial soldiers.<p>

"Do you have any idea how cliché that sounds?" Red asked curoisly as he simply kept his blaster aimed at her while they walked. Outside, the odd fighters and a larger warship were busy engaging the slow and disorganized defenses of the _Massive_, however Red didn't give a flying Vortian at the moment, all he cared about was getting away from those two murderous looking humans. The purple haired one was supposedly Zim's lover and crossing an Irken's mate was always a bad thing to do.

However fate would not let him escape so easily. Just as he was about to get into the shuttle the entire ship rocked and Red was thrown backwards, off the ramp and onto the hanger deck while Tak managed to break free of his hold. Before he could tell the guards to grab her, she had picked up his discarded pistol and shot two of the soldiers that were closest to her before tackling Red.

"I'll kill you!" She snapped, angry about his veiled threat towards Dib, even if he hadn't known it, and the fact that he had tried to kill her. Before she could bring the blaster to bear however a guard had grabbed her by the antennae and yanked her rather painfully off the Irken leader.

"Thank you, now kill that worm, she's no use to me now anyways" Red said as he smirked at the now helpless Tak. Once again, however, fate intervened. The doors to the hanger slid open and a group of assorted aliens ran in, firing their blasters and taking down several of Red's soldiers. Outraged at how hard it was to kill a simple Irken female, Red prepared to kill her himself now that he had recovered his blaster, only for someone to tackle him from behind.

"Die you scumbag!" Dib shouted and punched Red in the face repeatedly while Red's guards fought with the aliens. Dib had the upper hand for the moment, but Red was simply taller and with an angry roar he shoved the boy off him.

"What is with you humans and your meddling...ness" Red snapped as he reached for the nearby blaster, however the boy grabbed for it as well and the two fought rather brutishly over the object before Tak began to run towards them, intending to help. Red, unfortunately for Tak, noticed the angle of the blaster and with a sinister grin pulled the trigger, which sent a bolt flying towards Tak, impaling her upper left shoulder and sending her to the floor in a crumpled heap.

"NO!" Dib screamed, feeling as if he himself had been shot instead of Tak. He would have rather been shot then her if he could have had his way. Red, grinning at his ruined opponent, yanked the blaster from his reactionless fingers and trained the weapon on him.

"Any last words hu-" He started to say, only for a large blade to suddenly occupy the spot where his chest used to be. Gasping, he watched as the blade was withdrawn and he was forced to turn around to see the purple haired female. She was looking at him, but not with anger like he had expected but instead with cold, pure determination. She was going to kill him and he knew it.

"You hurt Zim..." She said softly as she drew the blade back and stabbed him again, opening a new massive hole in his chest, the blood was now staining his boots and royal robe. "You tried to kill my brother..." She added and twisted the blade inside his chest. "You tried to kill his girlfriend..." She yanked it out and sliced his face with it, letting him stagger backwards and clutch his bloody chest. "You...are...going...to..." She cocked the large knife backwards, holding it by the tip of the blade. "...DIE!" She said and the anger suddenly erupted in her eyes as her hair shot upwards and a horrible darkness exploded around her, terrifying Red as he saw his fears explode everywhere around him as if she had summoned them simply to scare him. "NOW ENTER THE WORLD OF YOUR NIGHTMARES AND BURN!" She shouted in anger before throwing the blade, it sailed across the room and hit him smack in the chest, the impact causing him to back up slowly. The evil, twisted form of Red began to fade as the Irken Imperial leader backed up towards the edge of the hanger bay platform. Gasping once, he reached outwards towards something nearby, a person maybe.

"Pur-Purp-" He tried to say, only to fall backwards off the platform and into the darkness of the ship's bowels as he screamed the entire ride downwards. Dib, watching the entire thing from afar, was both terrified and amazed, and slightly proud, of his little sister and how she had so easily killed the tall Irken. Then he remembered Tak and ran over to her.

"Tak! Tak!" He screamed as he held her, checking her vitals, he was lucky, the wound wasn't serious and she was stable, the blast having actually hit her bone for the most part so that the wound cauterize on impact.

"Human! We must leave, the ship is going to crash any minute!" The alien, that had identified himself as Lard Nar, said as he and his soldiers finished off Red's guards. Dib nodded and picked up Tak and followed him, his soldiers and Gaz onto Red's shuttle. The small ship then, piloted by Lard Nar's experienced soldier Wee Tin, shot out of the _Massive_ and into space where the alien fleet owned by the resistance group The Resisty, a very original name, was floating. Minutes later and the _Massive_ began to burn in Saturn's atmosphere before a large explosion could be seen as it detonated on the planet's surface.

* * *

><p>"Thank you Gaz Membrane" Lard Nar said as he and the rest of the Resisty stood before her, handing over a large medal with the Resisty symbol on it. "You have vanquished the Almighty Tallest and for that we are eternally grateful to you" He said as the Resisty members that were present all bowed in a show of respect.<p>

"Thank you Tak and Zim, for your parts in bringing down the Irken Empire and freeing us from their tyranny, regardless of it leading to grievous wounds on both of your parts" Lard Nar said to the two Irkens who were the first to ever uprise again the Empire, though Dib noticed Zim did flinch slightly at the notion that he had brought his own Empire down, while Tak seemed to be genuinely happy for once.

"And thank you Dib Membrane" Lard Nar said, turning to the white coated boy with the oddly scythe like hair. "For ending the long oppression of the universe under the Irken Empire's evil reign, we are also eternally in your debt" He said and one of the Resisty members also awarded him a metal, then they again all bowed to him.

"Now let us sign the treaty!" He said and the Resisty cried in joy as they, with the two Humans and both Tak and Zim, who were bandaged up but otherwise they were fine, followed Lard Nar to another room. This one was a bit larger and packed with Irken officers and soldiers, along with hundreds upon hundreds of representatives from across the universe that were here to see the official end of the Irken war machine. Taking their seats at the large table set in the center of the room, Zim, Tak, Dib, Gaz and Lard Nar all watched as The Almighty Tallest Purple, who was bandaged up and weary, but still looking happier then he had in a long time, and his officers looked over the Treaty of Peace drawn up by both the Resisty and Dib. Nodding that everything was in order, the Irken signed the treaty, officially ending the Irken Empire, reducing it's borders to the Irken system, releasing all it's soldiers from their forced service in the military, reducing it's navy to ten percent it's current strength and promising to never again seek war with any other faction unless it was attacked first.

Seeing the Irken Tallest sign the treaty caused all in attendance to rapidly rise to their feet and applaud, cheer and cry tears of joy upon realizing they were actually free now, free to live their own lives and not live in servitude to the Irken Empire or it's leaders. Dib also noticed that several Irken soldiers and officers were cheering and clapping as well, which led to the idea that maybe not all the Irkens were as happy with the long years of conquest and oppression as everyone had believed.

Purple, at the end of the ceremony, went forward to Zim and pulled him aside. Careful to make sure not everyone would hear, Purple offered Zim a job. Thinking it over, Zim considered the pros and cons of the position, but then decided that he was done with the Empire, even if it was officially a Republic now. What he really wanted was to retire on Earth and spend the rest of his life with Gaz, who he had realized was going to end up his mate, if she would let him of course.

"No" He said at last to the somewhat defeated looking Purple. "I am thankful for the offer, but I cannot be the Tallest of Irk...it...just won't work" He said at last. "I would rather someone else take the job, someone who can dish out and take in the blame fairly...someone like you" He said to Purple, who looked appropriately shocked. "Your the Tallest Purple, you should lead, you'll do fine" He said before standing at attention and saluting the Irken.

Still slightly shocked at the idea of _him_ being the ruler and not Red's lacky, but the actual ruler, Purple returned the salute. "Carry on soldier!" He snapped, though not rudely, before smiling and walking off to several of his officers that looked ready to talk about the new treaty and how to break it to the Irken people in the best possible manner.

Zim, meanwhile, was busy talking to Gaz. The purple haired girl had restrained herself from running straight into his arms and kissing him and had instead decided to make him sweat for a minute. "If you ever, _ever_ go and get shot and almost die _ever_ again" She said as she glared at him. "I will personally bring you back to life and throw you into a world of your worst possible nightm-" She was cut off however, by Zim suddenly reaching forward and kissing her. Instead of fighting him back, she simply dove right into the kiss, glad that he was alive and safe and that she wouldn't have to worry about anyone trying to kill him ever again.


	8. Chapter 8: Epilogue

_Minutes to Midnight_

Chapter 8: Epilogue

The restaurant was crowded and full of crazy children, shadowy teens and greasy adults. Amidst all the chaos was a foursome of the oddest assortment. One was wearing a labcoat of all things and had freaky scythe like hear. Across from him sat a girl garbed in a dull and slightly torn purple hoodie and jeans with violet hair. Next to her sat a tall boy with slicked black hair who was wearing a similar torn hoodie, only his was a red color. Across from him at the small, crowded booth was a slim girl wearing a black leather jacket with an odd symbol on it with the same, though slightly different, purple hair as the girl that sat diagonally away from her. All but the white coated boy were happily munching on massive, sprawling greasy pizzas.

"Mmmm!" Tak hummed happily as she devoured the toxic food with pure love. "Dib are you going to eat yours?" She asked as she munched down on the slimy pizza. Dib, for his own part, looked utterly appalled and terrified of the dish shaped object that quite literally oozed in front of him. He was almost sure it was moving, sort of.

"No, I'm good" He said as Gaz reached over and piled his untouched portions onto her own. "HEY!" He shouted and swiped at his sister, though it was more playful then harmful, because he was well aware that Gaz would kill him way before Zim could tear him apart. Then again she might just sit back to watch Zim kill him, she might even find it romantic somehow. That's a weird thought.

"What?" Gaz said as she ate cheerfully. "You weren't going to eat it, so it automatically makes your food fair game" She said and signaled one of the dazed looking waiters to come bring another round of the cheesy delights and fizzling sodas to their table.

"What if I wanted to give it to Tak?" Dib said.

"Then you should have said so Dib-stink" Zim said as he tried to sneak a slice out of the mountainous pile of pizza that Gaz had acquired after raiding Dib of his own stores. He was treated to a vicious slap from the purple haired girl and a blood freezing glare to boot.

"Back off Zim" She said in a dark monotone. She loved Zim dearly, but she would _never_ give up Pizza, even her father couldn't warrant that level of love from her. Pizza, to Gaz, was held on a pedestal right next to her Gameslave.

Zim, wisely, removed his hand and returned to his own food. Dib, now left with only a drink that was most likely just as toxic as his drink, decided to simply study the two Irken warriors. Before Gaz had, and he hated to even think the word let alone say it, started to _date_ Zim, he had always assumed Irkens could not eat Human food. But now he realized it was just their crappy school food that Zim couldn't eat. The rest of the Human food supply was so full of junk food, carbs and other unhealthy items that they were actually healthy for him. Dib had a sneaky suspicion that Irkens thrived on sugar, which would go hand in hand with the fact that the Tallest, who had the most access to surgery treats, would grow the tallest of the Irken populace. It would certainly make it understandable how Zim had grown so much in so little time, he was actually taller then Dib now, if only by an inch or two, he dwarfed Gaz and Tak, though the alien female was growling rapidly as well.

Eventually they exhausted their funds, well, they exhausted Dib's funds because he had been stupid enough, or gentlemanly enough, to pay for the meal of their choosing that particular night. Zim left him to wallow in pity as they left, claiming that he was an Invader and that he "Was not bound by your stupid earth gestures." However when neither of the females were looking, at least he hoped they weren't, he slipped him four bills with giant one hundreds on them. Having a cloning machine did have it's benefits after all.

"That was nice of you" Gaz said softly a bit later. Dib and Tak had opted to go see some movie instead of heading home immediately. Gaz, however wanted to get up early to go grab the new Game Slave that was coming out tomorrow and was eager to get to bed. Zim, without hesitation had volunteered to escort her home.

"Hmm?" Zim asked as he looked down at her. The two were walking slowly back to her house, with Gaz rapped up under his arm wearing his jacket around her. It was one of the few moments they had together where Gaz and Zim were both quiet and simply enjoying the others presence.

"You gave Dib all that money" Gaz said, smirking slightly at his startled look.

"I-I did no s-such thing! The Dib-stink c-can rot for all I care" He muttered as he stared off into space, trying to avoid her amused eyes.

Gaz simply rolled her eyes and leaned up to peck his cheek, leaving a soft but noticeable mark of purple lips on his holographic face and, underneath, on his green skin. "Whatever, it was still nice" She said while Zim mentally decided it was in his best interest to be nice to Dib a _whole_ lot more often from now on.

"Night" She said and then shut the door to her house. Zim, despite all of the things he should have been thinking at the moment, like the feel of her lips only a few moments before, could only wonder one simple thing. When in the world had they arrived at her house?

* * *

><p>"Is everything set?"<p>

"Close, but there's still a few loose ends to tie up and prepare"

"Well we have two months to take care of that"

"Should I go inform her?"

"Yeah, might as well"

"What happens if they catch us?"

"They won't"

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, you thought it was over, NO it is not. Lol.<strong>

**THERE IS MORE, THIS ISN'T EVEN THE END OF THE BEGINNING OF THE END! SO REVIEW! REVIEW AND GET YO STORY UPDATED!**

**Also, I enjoyed writing this and love Gaz, Tak, Zim, Gir, Dib, Purple, and Professor Membrane. IN THAT EXACT ORDER.**

**Chow for now, Review or DOOM to you!**


	9. Chapter 9: Continuation

_Minutes to Midnight_

_Chapter 9: Continuation_

"CURSE THIS STUPID BALL!" A voice said, the high pitched annoyed tone echoing across the crowded area as a number of heads turned to look at the owner of the voice. "CURSE THIS STUPID PLANET AND IT'S DUMD EARTH-STINK GAME!"

"Zim" Gaz said calmly as she hit her golf ball lightly with her black putter, sending the equally black ball rolling smoothly into the hole near a weird looking hippo statue. "Don't you think your being a bit melodramatic?" She asked as Tak chuckled behind her.

"I AM NOT BEING MELO-" Zim started to yell, only to glare at her and give a loud 'Hmpf' of indignation before stalking off in shame as he went to retrieve the bright green golf ball that he had sent flying across the course into one of the bushes that lined it's boundaries.

Dib simply smirked at the 'Russian boy' and his dismay of the colorful game of putt-putt before taking his own shot. The white ball sailed across the course and landed in the white hole perfectly, just as he had calculated. Tak went next and did just fine, sinking it in with a slightly less graceful hit.

Zim simply followed them to the next hall, not even caring that he should technically have taken another shot. With the score against him, by a staggering eighteen hits more then the rest of the party, he really didn't care anymore about winning.

"This stupid game is second class, only fools would play such a thing" He muttered darkly as Gaz took an easy swing, sending the black ball obediently into the hole, putting her at a perfect score of nine.

"Your just angry because you can't deny how much you suck at this game Zim" Tak said with a smirk matching Dib's while her boyfriend took his own shot, scoring as well, putting him right next to Gaz for the lead.

"I would think I wouldn't be the one doing the 'Sucking' in this group, isn't that your job Tak?" Zim said, only to regret it as the violet purple haired teen glared at him. "That was just a j-joke Tak, just a joke!" He said before taking off running while Gaz watched in amusement while Dib watched in what looked like pride. Tak returned a minute later and took her shot, putting her at eleven shots, which was understandable due to her never having played the game before.

Zim returned several moments after they had moved on to the next hole, his leg was badly damaged and he had his putter jammed around his neck in several twists that kept it bound there. Luckily for the foursome the holographic disguise he was wearing was able to simulate the damage, or they might have been having a very interesting talk that afternoon with some very mean people.

They played for another hour or so, the course got harder the farther they went of course and after some careful maneuvering on Gaz and Dib's part, they ended the game with Gaz beating Dib by one point. Dib of course complained that Zim's ball hitting his in mid stride was cheating, but was forced to let it slide since he was a 'beginner' and wasn't privy to how the game's rules worked completely.

"Here" Dib said glumly as he forked over two twenties to Gaz while they turned in their putter and golf balls. The owner had a fit over the state of Zim's putter, however once the damage was covered they were able to leave, though most likely never to return after that little incident.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into that" Zim said while they walked towards Dib's car, a white painted 1970 mustang that his father had given to him for his seventeenth birthday.

Gaz simply rolled her eyes and let him hold her hand while they got in the back of the mustang. "Don't be such a baby" She teased while Tak allowed Dib to shut the door for her before taking the driver's seat.

"This thing isn't going to crash again is it?" Tak asked as she looked at the dash, or more precisely, at the hidden engine that was sputtering to life as Dib revved the gas pedal.

"N-No" Dib said, not sounding as sure as he would have liked, however the car did, in fact, take off down the road as promised.

"So are you two going to the Senior dance?" Gaz asked while they drove towards Tak's mansion. The question caught both off guard and she watched with Zim as they tried to hide their twin blushes at the comment.

"I was going to s-surprise her Gaz" Dib said, trying to sound angry while he wondered what Tak thought about him dancing with her, in public. She was a prominent Senior at school, with her looks, money, athletics and grades placing her hide up in the student hierarchy. It was the hottest lunchroom gossip as to why someone like her would go out with someone as creepy as Dib.

"Eh she would have said yes even if you actually managed to surprise her" Zim commented off handily while he watched the rich houses outside flyby.

Dib simply coughed once before looking at Tak, who was looking at him, the one that was _supposed_ to be driving. "So...um...dance?" He asked and Tak seemed to contemplate this, causing him to sweat bullets for several seconds, imagining the ribbing that Gaz and Zim would give him if she said no.

"Eh, don't have anything better to do" She said at last, causing Gaz and Zim to start cracking up while he sighed in relief. "On too conditions though" She said, smirking to herself while Gaz and Zim both stopped laughing and stared at her warily. "One, they have to go too" She said and pointed at Zim and Gaz, who both blushed just as heavily as Tak and Dib and started sputtering objections.

"No way!"

"We're Juniors, we're not even allowed to go!"

"Never in a million years will I wear a dress"

Tak ignored them as she stared at Dib. "And two, LOOK AT THE ROAD!" She roared and Dib, snapping out of his trance, was just in time to yank on the wheel, narrowly avoiding a convoy of eighteen wheeler trucks that were heading off to the industrial district of the city to drop off some junk or another.

"So?" Tak said, looking at Gaz and Zim in the back of the car. The two looked rightfully angry at her, but one look from Dib and Gaz knew there was no getting out of it.

"Fine" She said and watched Dib smile in gratitude while they began to pull into the massive driveway outside the huge towering mansion that Tak lived in. "But your paying for the dress" She said. Tak simply laughed before kissing Dib as a form of goodbye. Hopping out of the car, she gave Zim a rude gesture with her right hand before heading inside while Zim copied the gesture with fake anger, by now fighting with Tak had simply become a daily motion.

"So, what color suit are you guys going to wear?" Gaz asked innocently as they turned around to head to Zim's weird home, which he hadn't fixed up simply because he figured the damaged and bad disguise made it more 'Homey.'

Both Dib and Zim glanced at each other for only a few mere seconds before responding at the same exact time. "There is no way your getting us to match."


	10. Chapter 10: UPDATE

UPDATE

Okay, this fic is now done. The new one, the SEQUEL to Minutes to Midnight, is now on Fanfiction under the title of Minutes to Midnight: The Queen Returns. The title gives me chills just thinking about it. Go there and have a look at what is to come. I will be running a Q/A on there until next Friday, which should be the release of the first chapter. SO all of of my hardcore fans better be hitting it up with reviews, questions and ideas. ENJOY!

Lostsword


End file.
